Does ABHE accredit specific programs or just institutions?
In 2004, ABHE members voted to adopt new Programmatic Accreditation Standards. Programmatic accreditation applies to biblical/theological/ministerial programs, divisions or schools within liberal arts or comprehensive institutions. Institutions that pursue programmatic accreditation are required to subscribe to the Association’s tenets of faith, provide evidence of institutional accreditation by a recognized agency, document appropriate state or provincial approvals to offer eligible programs, and furnish a mission statement that encompasses programs of preparation for church or parachurch vocations. Furthermore, the programs submitted for accreditation will need to comply with the Association’s curricular standards (relative to Bible/theology and general studies) and specific student ministry/ministry formation requirements. Following its adoption of the Programmatic Accreditation Standards in 2004, ABHE undertook the process of seeking formal recognition of this “expansion of scope”
